Sunday, January 02, 2011

Everyone Can Do It

Some time ago, I suggested that you open your own “outreach franchise”. Here is what one wonderful reader wrote:

Subject: NY Franchise

I visited one of my insurance clients today on West 45th Street in NYC. He is sick - cancer treated, tired, neuropathy.....

Today my visit was about putting up Mezuzot. First we put up one in his office. Then he said, "I'm very tired, I need to rest now." I replied - 5 more minutes so we can put on Tefillin. He agreed. Then he called in his 2 sons - we put on Tefillin. Then, Mezuzot on the son's offices, the controller's office and the front door of the building - I brought 6 Mezuzot - all used. I gave him Rabbi Arush's book, "Garden of Emunah" and urged to him to read it and visit Rabbi Arush in the Holy Land.

Thank you for inspiring me to start this. Good Shabbos.

Gutman replies:

WOW! WOW! WOW!

HOORAY for you. Look what you have done. Hashem bless you, and bless you again, and again with many more opportunities to help. You are a valuable person to your friends

You should be flying! You made my day!

Akiva adds:

Many are the stories of mesiras nefesh, self sacrifice, the holy Jews of past generations. Many stories of holy Rebbe’s, holy chassidim, holy rosh yeshivas, holy talmidim, with great self sacrifices for Torah and mitzvot. Yet a consistent feature of the past was the holy communities. Jews, usually forced by the surrounding societies, stayed closely and tightly together. Nothing was private, certainly not their troubles.

In our time we are more spread out as a people, and even within the Jewish communities we put up our private walls and hide our troubles. And outside the community…the universal custom of this time is to KEEP TO YOURSELF.

Yet in this time we’re screaming (inside) for help! The mesiras nefesh of today is to step through those barriers and help our brother.

It’s hard, it’s embarrassing…and it can change peoples lives!

Yasher Koach to the author of the note, you’ve made a difference!

Let’s all step up and make a difference for our fellow…and by doing so change the world with ahavas chinam (baseless love for our fellow), move the world towards Gan Eden, and bring Moshiach now!